Follow along, It'll be fun!!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The frame for this chalkboard would be considered faux because it is made out of plastic, to look like an antique gold frame.

I thought this would be a good post to talk about my faux slate walkway, as well. On my old blog, Art Spectrum, I documented the progress of my summer project, last year. I painted my front walkway, using concrete paint, to look like slate. You can see a little bit of it in the picture above and can catch glimpses of it in several of my other pictures, featuring my chalkboards.

Here is a recap of the progress of my work, from last summer.

I started by testing my technique, colors and product on a concrete paver. The product that I used was Folkart Outdoor Opaque, by Plaid.

Starting at the front door, I began to paint in the tile lines. I decided to go with an random tile pattern, for a more formal look. Using a metal right angle ruler, I started plotting my course. I chalked in the lines first, then painted over the chalk. (Funny, chalk was involved in this project too.) I forgot to mention, before doing any painting my husband pressure washed the entire walkway.Using a variety of browns, blues and a sandstone colored base, I began to mix my colors to create a convincing slate look. Every few tiles I added faux ridges, to further enhance the look.

Each day that I painted, I tried to complete one slab of concrete. I worked early in the morning, before the hot Florida sun started shining on the walkway. I typically worked for about three hours. One hazard was the late afternoon rains. The paint is not supposed to get wet for, I think, 24 hours (It needs curing time). Thankfully, it did not ruin my work. The only thing that is not finished, in the above picture, is the shadow in the grout lines. I came back later to finish that.

Slowly I crept, slab by slab, down the walkway. I didn't work on it every morning and sometimes I went weeks without painting. Summer turned to fall, fall turned to winter, and winter turned to spring. Little by little as time allowed I got it done.

It has been a year since I began this project and I still have one more slab to go. It's the one that turns the corner to the driveway, so it doesn't look that incomplete. I only work this slow on my own projects. When I'm working for a client, I work until I'm done:).

One year later!

I had many projects that I worked on this past year, most at my children's school. I took a little break from my mural business, in order to get these other projects done. I am starting to get my mural business moving again. In order to jump start my business, I am offering my services at a discounted rate. If you know of anybody in the Central Florida area, who is looking for a good mural and faux artist, please direct them to my website, www.muralwizard.com and www.muralwizard.blogspot.com.

A final note on the slate walkway. It has been a year since beginning this project. The walkway has been through the strong Florida sun and heavy rains(sometimes even hurricane conditions). I'm happy to say, It has held up beautifully! No fading or chipping. My husband even pressure washed it, on the highest setting, to test it and the paint didn't budge!